betprepare.com

Kutxa lost last weekend in a visiting game against Murcia, and they also lost the first head-to-head against Valencia. That's more than enough for real motivation today. Besides, they're hosting the leading team of the league, the undefeated Valencia whom, if somebody knows well, it's Kutxa's coach Perasovic. And Valencia started showing signs of weakness. They're missing their first play Van Rossom, they're hanging by the thread to pass into Eurocup, where in the last three matches they scored 72, 67 and 72. Now they're heading towards a defense which left Real in the last couple of weeks at 68 points in an away game, Barca at 70 in an away game, and CSKA at 71 at home. When you push Valencia, they can certainly have problems and I'm sure we'll see that today. Besides, Valencia don't have a clear "number five" who could watch out for Bourousis, and with the return to Davis Bertans (11 points against Real) they got a new dimension when it comes to outside shots, where they lacked a bit. All in all, tonight Valencia's series in ACB League will end. Details

Even though this is a city derby between teams who are only three points away, Lublin are second, but they also have one match less than the fourth Zaglebie. The hosts have proven to be more unstable from the start of this year compared to Lublin who were defeated for the first time only last week after a nine-game winning run in the championship. Zaglebie have only beaten the leading Pogon in the last three rounds, but they also lost to Koszalinska and Gdansk, teams who are fighting for the play-offs and who are quality-wise behind the leading teams. They had problems during the middle of this week in the round of 16 against the second-league team SPR Olkusz whom they've managed to beat only in the finish of the game with 32-30. Lublin, after being defeated by Pogon, quickly rehabilitated in the cup and they beat Ruch in a visiting game with 28-15.
I think they're better, play-wise, they have the bigger width, and they've demonstrated that in the first match in the middle of October 2015 when they beat Zaglebie with eight goals of difference (30-22). Lublin's win had bigger meaning then if you know what it was between two matches in the Champions League and that a big number of players were injured back then. As for injuries, Lublin are only missing wing player Quintino, while Zaglebie will be missing middle back Semeniuk. Lublin were convincing last year too in both matches (31-24, 34-27), they are expected to reply after being beaten by Pogon and to return to winning in the championship. Details

I think the offered handicap is a gift. First and foremost, Elverum are the better team. On the one hand we have participants of the Champions Leaague who dealt very well with other teams in their group, and they even beat some. On the other hand, we have the bottom-league team who will hardly get off the bottom. Johannessen is a top player without a doubt, but Elverum will know how to block all the others. In the first head-to-head coach Apelgren's team underestimated them. They woke up only in the second half. It was a desperate game from their side, and something like that can hardly happen again. Viking lost here to OIF with 13 points of difference. The offered handicap passed over Halden, Drammen and BSK, all teams weaker than Elverum. The visiting team have passed the offered handicap in the last four away matches. Details

Brose are a team that, under coach Trinchieri, focuses on great defense and aggressive playing, but there are several reasons why I think that defenses won't be in the fore today. Brose's focus is currently on Euroleague where they have been achieving great results. A few days ago they defeated Barca, they are quite spent, both physically and mentally. They soon have a new Euroleague game and they won't play at their best today. They are awaiting Tubingen, a run-and-gun team who have nothing to lose here and they won't give up on their game style, and it is hard to believe they will be able to keep up for a longer period. Brose recently played two games against teams similar to Tubingen. First they defeated Telekom 109-72, then Gottingen 113-92. Their home games are on average at 166 points, they score over 95 points. Tubingen this season are at an average of 186 points, they are at the top offensively and scoring wise, defensively at the very bottom. It's a team filled with Americans who play in the American style and Brose will know how to use that. It was similar in their first head-to-head this season, when the title defenders won 98-88, so they played a game at 186 points, and even Tubingen held on until the start of the final quarter. Details

There isn't a position at which GOG are dominant over Midtylland. And in my opinion there is no reason to favor GOG in a finale played on neutral field. Midtylland had a great preparation, convincingly won games, some of their players have recovered, they acquired Hens who cannot play as badly as he did yesterday. They have a great left-handed player as right-back, while GOG are playing with three right-handed players and they primarily depend on back field shots, which HCM's defense with experienced players like Gjessing and Svavarsson can defend against. I think that HCM will take the title, and this handicap is a great safety for an even finish. Details

This game is, for Viborg, the first of three they will be playing in the next seven days, they will play at Randers on Wednesday, and next Sunday they will host Esbjerg, two teams from the Top 3, and these games can impact the qualification for the play-off, and after these games they have to play EHF Cup Winners' Cup. Since it is expected they will win two points against a team that has already said good bye to the top league, we can expect Viborg to have an 'easier' approach to this game, to rotate more and a slightly more opened game in comparison to Viborgs performances in this period and in the next two games. Sonderjyske are playing without pressure, they insist on offensive handball, defense is almost in the background, and with such approach, in five games since the second half of the season starter, they are at an average of 32 conceded goals per game, and have only one under on the offered margin. As a team they lack competitive motivation, but individually they have players who will insist on bigger efficiency until the end of season. They are Madsen, currently fifth scorer in the league with 96 goals, third-best Polman from Esbjerg has eight goals more but also a game more, as well as winger Knudsen who could get into the Top 10 of best scorers if she has a good scoring night tonight. This is a game at 55+ goals. Details

Novgorod are a team that are motivated and play best in the big games, and in such as this one they play just as much as they need to. The same happened in their first head-to-head game, and I expect it today as well. VITA cannot defend anything and against anyone, they play a lot of zone because of the lack of players, they don't use contact because they have to watch out for fouls and they conceded a lot of points. Novgorod have good three pointer shooters, I would even say great, Hvostov, Baburin, Rudd, Strebkov and Antonov, and today they have an extra motivation to score 100 points (more about that in the preview). All in all, I expect a game without defense and in that case this margin makes much more sense. Details

Bournemouth gained a lot of sympathy for their performance in their debut Premiership season, they are out of the relegation zone and they created quite a point difference between themselves and the relegation zone. Eddie Howe's team wants to outplay with everyone, they make no calculations. They defeated great teams like Chelsea and Manchester United, but those two teams are far from their potential form this season based on player quality. Today is the first time Arsenal are playing at Bournemouth, they are in a crisis and have dropped to the fourth position. But they played against tough teams in the last four rounds whose game style doesn't suit Arsenal (Liverpool, Stoke, Chelsea, Southampton) and Arsenal won only 3 points.
That is not nearly enough for a team with title ambitions and they have to start winning, especially because they are facing leaders Leicester in the next round. Home team's game style suits Arsenal, they will get more space, and win balls against a team that wants to play and spread over the pitch. Quality and experience are on Arsenal's side so it is logical to expect they will dictate the pace and go for the win from the start, because any other results will be a debacle for them in this season when they have more chance to win the title than in the last 10 years. Arsenal cannot afford a slip up in Bournemouth and now that Alexis Sanchez is finally fit, we can expect them to justify the role of the favorites, while Bournemouth will have much easier tasks in the continuation of the relegation battle. Details